Best substrate to use

[Jess]

I've read so many different things about so many different substrates. I prefer not to use newspaper or that fake green carpet stuff. I'd like to use a sand of some sort but I've read if ingested, it can cause problems. I'm sure it takes a ton for a dragon to become impacted.

Any suggestions?

 

[rrcoolj]

So this is for a Bearded Dragon? It really makes me angry how paranoid people are about loose substrate. Substrate like cage carpet has it's disadvantages too. Aslong as the dragon is atleast 16inches then sand is fine. You will hear people all the time say that "I had my dragon or gecko for 6 months on sand and it died" or something similar to that. What you don't hear is how old is the animals? Is it being fed by a bowl? How big is it? etc. I have my leos on sand but on never feed them on sand. I feed them with a bowl or by tongs. But beardies eat differnt than leos.

 

[jd61285]

I even keep my beardie hatchlings on strained sterilized play sand from lowes . it is a greatly debated subject. There are many large scale breeders out there that keep them all on sand as well they all just say make sure it is well strained.

 

[Reflektr]

Yeah...Nothing screams Australian Desert like Repti-Carpet lol. So far, the best substrate I've found for the dragons is the plain old fine reptile sand. My 1-year-old beardie has been on fine sand since day one and hasn't had an issue yet. He gets his salads and worms in a bowl, but gets to chase his crickets down. Of all the times I've watched him chase down food, I've never seen him get a face full of sand.

It's just something you have to be wary of and keep an eye on, just like anything else. If you see them eating sand just for kicks, it may be a good idea to either remove the sand, or feed your beardie lol. I love the sand I have. I combined a light and a dark to get a real natural look. You can also partially bury objects like large rocks to help wear down toe-nails. The stuff's a breeze to spot clean and doesn't seem to have an odor.

 

[Meg90]

Go with play sand, over calci sand.

The play sand is actually sand, and will taste like dirt. The calci sand tastes salty to them, which is why they eat it. THATS what causes the impaction. They choose to eat it, its not just from it getting stuck on their food items.

Just keep a good eye on him, if he does OK on sand, why not let him have it?